Pt. 5

[Noctis Lucis Caelum]

If there was one thing about the memories Noctis took a lesson from, it was time. They did not have much time as the original timeline was happening with no interruptions. The Empire would make a move to give a false treaty and marriage to Luna within three years if everything stayed the same. The Crown Prince felt sick as he thought about Drautos and the glaives he turned traitor. At least several dozen had turned already if not more. Soon the few towns left resisting the Empire rule would fall to the new batch of MTs that were created by Ardyn and Verstael. It was no secret that Lucis was losing the war that started decades ago with his grandfather King Mors. Each year the Kingdom's territory grew smaller and citizens outside the wall grew in dissent. Noctis had to act now if he was to influence major events that were about to happen.

The glassy eyed look left Noctis as the crystal receded its magic. He wasn't sure what to do. He wanted to laugh, cry, and shout curses at the Astrals all at once. Maybe it was bitterness from his older self's memories but dammit if he didn't agree at the unfairness. Noctis received the short end of the stick when it came to his so called "destiny". King of Light, Providence, Savior of Eos — it didn't matter one bit. It made sense now that his father never forced him to learn everything about politics and economics. Him as Crown Prince attending school, the inner-city apartment, the times Regis took Noctis random fishing — it was because his father knew he would never take the crown the way it was meant to be passed down. His father knew he would die to fulfil the prophecy and that Lucis would fall for it.

The prince bent over, holding his knees as nausea clawed its way up his throat. After some minutes, he looked around himself to notice that Prompto was not near him. The crystal's energy was there but silent. It made no further sound to communicate, delivering its knowledge of the past future. Noctis straightened himself and began to walk forward. He needed a plan. He needed to meet with his Father and retinue. He needed to bond with Gladio and Iggy. There were many thoughts rushing through his mind, thinking about their not-future. He needed more allies than what he currently had. Extensive changes had to happen quickly, or he would see insomnia burn and everyone die again.

[Lunafreya Nox Fleuret]

The moonlight poured through the glass, giving everything a light-blue glow. Pryna and Umbra sniffed as they curled around Luna's feet. Ravus could not come visit her today. He had a war council meeting to attend so she was left alone at her villa all day. Gentiana had left that early afternoon.

Luna looked out her living room window, ignoring the MTs that stood outside guarding keeping her in the villa. Fortunately, she had a hearty stew for supper made by her maid Maria and no generals had come to verbally abuse her. She tightened the brown fur blanket around her shoulders. She wore a simple cotton white nightgown, shivering slightly as the fall weather was beginning to set in Niflheim. The villa the Empire kept her prisoner was old and did not have modern heating or cooling methods.

The Oracle sighed as she thought about Noctis and the prophecy. She could feel the pull of the Six's power in many directions. She knew what was required of her death to fulfill the prophecy and she always resented the Empire for not letting her heal more people across Eos before it was time. Luna knew the time for duty had arrived before originally planned. Gentiana had told her to be prepared to escape in the coming months. It was odd as the messenger had never offered to help her escape although she stopped any abuse by the Empire when she was around.

Bang! Bang! Ting!

Luna startled out of her thoughts as she saw some MTs fight a few daemons. The Villa had lights around the outside of the house but not many on the grounds. Sometimes the noises kept her from sleeping late at night. It did not matter to the Empire if she was well rested or not. Only that she was fed and looked appropriately in front of crowds.

No new message had come from Noctis the past couple of weeks, and she began to grow worried. Since both Pryna and Umbra were with her she assumed something was wrong. The battle outside soon fell silent, and Luna placed her forehead against the glass. Tenebrae had fallen when she was a child. She only had to wait a little more.

[Ignis Scientia & Ifrit]

The Infernian stepped up to his descendant and bent down to stare at Ignis. The god had shrunk down and took the form of a human despite his horns sticking out his head. He had found some abandoned brown pants and black shoes in a hunter's shed outside the palace before slipping through the Citadels barriers. It was such a pain to find human clothes so he could sneak into the palace. He wondered why he even bothered in the first place, but he could hear the Glacian's voice if he had done so differently.

When Mother Etro ordered Bahamut to restart the timeline, he was also cured of his starscourage ailment. He felt his connection to Ardyn also snap and break the covenant he was bonded to. He at once went to find the Glacian. His lover, Shiva, had cried in his arms from joy (or what he thought humans called the emotion). He had not bothered to learn human customs since Solheim fell. After reaffirming his bond with the Glacian, Ifrit had set out to find any survivors from Solheim or traces of the culture. It was unfortunate that his people were wiped out. Their brilliance out shown anything produced in modern times in his opinion. The Infernian's tracking did lead him to the Scientia family. The family had a long history of scholarship and civil politics. One of the Scientia ancestors was from Solheim, and the traces could be seen in their hair color. While the Infernian could not recall every person from his city, he could definitely see the resemblance the current heir held.

Ifrit pulled out the dart he used on Ignis from the advisor's neck. The wound did bleed some, but it was not serious. The god actually did not care to use human tricks, but Shiva reminded him that his boons hurt humans the most because of the heat. She had given him the dart and sleeping potion to knock Ignis out so he would not feel any pain.

Ifrit tossed the dart carelessly aside and focused on tearing Ignis' shirt. Human clothing had gotten very complicated in the centuries he had not paid attention. He missed the days when it was simple cloth wrapped around the body. Buttons flew and the material ripped easily around the Infernian's claws. Once the black silk shirt revealed the advisor's chest, Ifrit placed his hand in the center. Drawing up his power, the god began to glow a fiery red and he called forth the flames that made his divine essence. Unlike his lover, he did not give humans his blessings easily or often. However, in the case of Eos he swallowed his pride and prejudice to help the chosen warriors of light. He was lucky he was able to find someone related to him this time. It would make the heat more bearable.

Flames pushed forward, surrounding Ignis' limp form and attached to his skin. The flames did not burn Ignis, but it did eat away at the clothing on the other hand. The advisor's chest inhaled sharply as the same glow began to form inside his torso. Ifrit coaxed the flames as they nestled themselves into the other's magic veins, leaving dark red marks. Time ticked by them and by the time the Infernian noticed it was dark. Once Ifrit completed the process, the dark red veins that had started to pop from Ignis' skin started to retreat.

Ignis groaned unconsciously as the mark of the Infernian started to burn into his chest. Ifrit held the flames a little longer to make sure the bond had formed properly. Satisfied with the mark, the god lifted from the ground. He would go and share the news with Shiva. He disappeared in a trace of smoke.

Ignis awoke with a startled jerk against the door. The last thing he remembered was entering his office before being hit with something. The advisor then went to grasp his neck. He recalled the dart that hit his neck with a sedative it seemed. A figure had started walking up to him before his vision went black. All he recalled were black boots.

He groaned as he felt the cricks in his neck and paresthesia in his legs. The advisor then took in his naked appearance. He felt himself blush and realized it was very cold. Taking stock of his condition, Ignis noticed (he still had his glasses) pieces of his shirt torn to shreds and charred. A strange symbol was in the middle of his chest. The symbol looked like an orb of fire in between two spiraling ram horns. The fire insignia was similar to his House's symbol with everything outlined in black and gold.

The advisor looked at his watch (somehow it survived whatever happened) and saw the time was 3:00AM. He lost six hours, and he had no idea what on Eos happened. Ignis groaned as he put his arms beside himself to push up. With a lot of grunting and effort the advisor managed to lift himself off the door and slid his left leg underneath his himself, feeling his foot touch his behind. Ignis felt weak. All his strength seemed to evade him, and the strangeness did not ease his stomach. His breathing was labored, and he wondered if he should call for help.

However, after sitting for a couple of minutes the advisor wiped a hand over his face and pushed himself off the ground. Once his legs were steady, Ignis noticed more charred pieces of clothing and soot over parts of his body. He did not feel anything out of the ordinary, other than his weakness, and his limbs were only sore from being cramped on the ground. Luckily, he did not think that happened to him. Whatever his mysterious assailant seemed to have done, the advisor could not seem to see anything stolen either in the immediate vicinity. Truly, it befuddled him.

Ignis headed over to his closet slowly. He always kept spare sets of clothes in his office just in case he needed them in between meetings. Whatever happened to him, he needed to consult Madame Solaris and his friends. The advisor sighed. It was just not his day.

[Nyx Ulric]

It was around midnight after having dinner with Libertus, Nyx went back to his small apartment in the Galahd district. The off-duty glaive passed many of his neighbors, giving nods to the ones he respected, on the way up to his apartment building. While he certainly paid too much for his tiny apartment, it was a great breather away from the barracks and close enough to the Citadel he could report for duty, taking a fifteen-minute walk. Too many fights were likely to start in the barracks with him right in the middle. He got into enough trouble as it was. Nyx took the side fire escape to the fifth floor.

Insomnia was a melting pot of refugees along with the Crown City born citizens. Some refugees also had families living in the capital before the war. However, much racism persisted despite the government programs to promote "understanding and culture" in Nyx's opinion. While the Kingdom of Lucis used to be made up of many regions and islands, the past few decades under King Mors put an emphasis on Royal Lucian culture that Lucians from other regions grew to resent. Once the Empire started taking lands by force and the wall shrunk to the Crown City only that further divided people on the monarchy. King Regis' reign as the new ruler was not off to a great start back then. Many of Nyx's Galahdian people thought they should take their islands back by force without the King's Army. Some others and Elders thought Galahdians should focus on preserving what culture was left in the Crown City walls. Others too young to remember Galahd before the Empire were slowly turning into "proper" Lucians as he heard some people say with a sneer. Most young Galahdians didn't wear their clan beads and braids much anymore. The pessimists said it was only a matter of time before Lucis fell to the Empire too.

Nyx huffed as he reached his front door and unlocked it with the skeletal key. He didn't have one of the fancy, renovated apartments that he saw could scan your fingerprints or use a smaller key. Going through the brown door, Nyx closed the door with his foot as he threw his green hoodie and keys on the small bar table next to the entrance. He shuffled out his black boots and placed them on the rack. He locked both the bottom and top locks to the front door. Luckily, he still had a day off the next day and planned to be a couch potato/sleep.

He pushed his hair back with both hands and wiped down his face. The politics of the current world always haunted his mind as someone people called "hero". He had been fighting in this war since he was fifteen and fighting was in his blood as part of the Ulric warrior clan. Nyx could still feel the sand in between his toes and the salt in the air when he closed his eyes, thinking of home. He remembered every river he swam in and the giant trees that towered over ponds. The red walls of the community hall and the rainbow of colors clans wore to distinguish themselves. Even now some Galahdians wore clan war paint when headed to the front lines. If he had the power to stop the Empire single-handedly, Nyx would have ended this war when he reached his twenties. The glaive stretched, hearing a pop come from his back and hip. Maybe Libertus was right in that they were getting too old for this shit. King Regis had the most magic left on the continent and still couldn't defeat the Empire with the glaive army. Maybe it was a trial from the Six or humans have been abandoned by every deity. He walked through the small living room area and turned down the hallway bypassing the kitchen and dining room. He opened the back door that led to his bedroom and bathroom.

Either way, Nyx was exhausted. Between training with Libertus, dealing with discrimination at the bank, and overall walking everywhere in the city—he was about to drop. He felt a shiver wrack his spine as he turned to get ready for bed, starting to take down his braids one by one. He hoped none of what he's been feeling is a bad omen.

A shrill sound pierced through the morning air. A groan, Nyx turned over and picked up his device from the nightstand. "Hello?" Nyx greeted sleepily, not bothering to check who it was.

"Ulric, I need you here ASAP." Cor's voice cut through the speaker.